Thank the Lord Im colored because I hate blushing

The most awkward time of my life and I feel others would agree was in middle school. Any single time I had any interaction with a lady I could feel the blood rush to my face, a simple hello could set off some anxiety on my end. 6th grade I had my first lady friend Haley, and I remember when she asked to hold hands on the bus...... and that was it for me. What did I do you might ask?...... I got out of the seat and moved to the front of the bus out of shear nervousness and embarrassment, and you better believe that if I was lighter skinned the blushing would have been obvious to see. But like the title says thank God I am darker. 

But this whole interaction makes me slightly curious on why do we blush and does it hold any adaptive benefit at all? 

First off, blushing is the accumulation of blood in the superficial venous plexus of the face (Rot.) And the odd part of it is this action is completely involuntary. When you body releases adrenaline, it causes the veins in your body to dilate (MSBS'ers what is happening to blood pressure?) in order to carry more oxygen. Which this is what is making the blood pool up in your cheeks. It is a consensus among psychologists that blushing is a defense mechanism to help people avoid confrontation. One psychologist even called it the silent apology (Kesten). 

Another article mentioned blushing usually happens when somebody is the center of attention in a negative way. The blusher usually is experiencing shame, or embarrassment, people could be forming an undesired impression about them. This was the reasoning where they spoke the most, was when it was about blushing coming usually from shyness, people with social anxiety disorder usually tend to feel quite exposed when any amount of attention is on them. 

Maybe that was young Noah's issue, social anxiety disorder. 

Anyway, a potential issue in this subject could be that they most studies done on blushing has just been limited to questionnaires. So who who knows if this data can be accurate. Let me know what you think!

aan het Rot, M., Moskowitz, D. S., & de Jong, P. J. (2015). Intrapersonal and interpersonal concomitants of facial blushing during everyday social encounters. PloS one, 10(2), e0118243. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118243

Santa Clara University. (2016). Red in the Face: The Science of Blushing. @SantaClaraUniv. https://www.scu.edu/illuminate/thought-leaders/phil-kesten/red-in-the-face-the-science-of-blushing.html

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Not Everyone Needs the Same Energy

Type 1 diabetes mellitus, most understood as juvenile diabetes, is a type of autoimmune disease that affects the pancreas and its ability to produce insulin. People that have this disease must take artificial insulin their whole life to continue to live. Many people who suffer from this disease have automated insulin delivery system (AID) which helps the regulation of insulin being given to the body depending on the individual’s glucose needs ​(Degen et al., 2024)​. Researchers at the University of Bristol have begun to take a deeper dive into these AIDs to better understand Type 1 diabetes. By getting more insight into how insulin demands change in everyone, we can understand more about what other unknown mechanisms help change the regulation of sugars and insulin ​(Degen et al., 2024)​. Even though we have a well understanding of how insulin and glucose are regulated, by having an automatic sensor, we’re able to get a wider picture of what other factors that are not completely understood affect the regulation of insulin and glucose uptake. By looking more closely at these AIDs we can build more specific clinical treatment to those who suffer from type 1 diabetes. 

Most medical treatments cover the average person, but I believe once you get into the chemical and enzymatic differences of an individual you can limit the outcome of a treatment by not specifying their treatment as possible. We as individuals have different stressors, metabolic needs, and different activity levels in our day, so for those who suffer from type 1 diabetes their fluctuation can very incredibly from others. This new study to understand AIDs and what life styles fluctuate insulin needs can help provide more specific treatment options and plans. This is important for those who have AIDs to provide better treatment options, but also unfortunate for those who are not able to afford AIDs. There needs to be a way to reduce the cost of these devices, as well as a larger push to look into more research in stabilizing blood glucose for these types of patients.

Reference:

​​Degen, I., Robson Brown, K., Reeve, H. W. J., & Abdallah, Z. S. (2024). Beyond Expected                Patterns in Insulin Needs of People With Type 1 Diabetes: Temporal Analysis of Automated         Insulin Delivery Data. JMIRx Med, 5, e44384–e44384. https://doi.org/10.2196/44384 

Bioprinting Organs and Tissue Reconstruction with Stem Cells, The 3D printing of Organs

 

What’s it about?

In this blog post, I discuss the possibilities of Bioprinting, also known as 3D printing organs or segments of tissues. Bioprinting has been deployed to replicate the geometrical shapes of organs/tissues accurately. With this information, I was curious about the progress and possibility of researchers/physicians using Bioprinting to replace damaged organs, or when a matching organ donor is unavailable. I want also to discuss how bioprinting works, and how it differs from standard 3D printers. Type of “printing material” used in the printing process, and how these prints (Organs/tissue segments) come out of the bioprinters.

We’re 3D printing Organs?!?!

It would be cool and awesome to say that we can replace missing/damaged organs with completely fabricated organs that came from stem cells. Unfortunately, significant challenges still face the possibility of 3D bioprinting organs. These challenges consist of; “Human cell incorporation into sizable and dense 3D structures exposes them to sub‐optimal conditions due to diffusion limits” (Kumar 1). Stem cell survival is impacted by “and function, such as low oxygen supply, perturbations in pH equilibrium, and constrained access to vital nutrients within the core of the engineered tissue”.(Kumar 1). There was also the issue for the longest time of how/what kind of medium would contain these stem cells for bio-printing, as well as the kind of cells that would be included within these molds. “As tissues are composed of many cell types and layers, 3D structures can be biofabricated by casting into molds, or by 3D bioprinting using multiple printheads to create complex 3D shapes, using various bioinks (biomaterials).[ 2 ] Likewise, different stem cells can be used to generate multiple tissue types.[ 3–6 ].”(Kumar 1)

What are Bio-inks?

Bio-inks are 3D structural models that can be used in bioprinting. These structures act as a medium that can hold/maintain planted cells with the structure as the bioprinter shapes the rest of the structure. seed cells are encapsulated within the bioink and are precisely deposited in specific spatial locations as the bioprinter shapes the structures” (Yang L 1). These Bio-inks can be used to represent the tissues that will be replaced, although some bio-inks show that their sturdiness of structure seems too tough for cell growth often leading to cell death. On the other hand, “gel-based materials of lower mechanical strength favor cell survival, the printed geometrical structures often collapse, losing their ability to replicate the natural tissue/organ architecture” (Yang L 1). After some research, the researcher found that embedding cells within the gel medium would often lead to high success in cell growth and structure stability.

Conclusion

 The possibility of artificially making organs and tissues is getting closer to reality. Although a few complications persist within the development of bio-printing, research has shown that the possibility of bio-printing is a possibility and might even be a thing shortly!

 

References:

Luo, Y., Xu, R., Hu, Z., Ni, R., Zhu, T., Zhang, H., & Zhu, Y. (2024). Gel-Based Suspension Medium Used in 3D Bioprinting for Constructing Tissue/Organ Analogs. Gels (Basel, Switzerland), 10(10), 644. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.3390/gels10100644

 

Alok Kumar, Robert A. Brown, Daniel Benyamien Roufaeil, Aditi Gupta, Erika L. Lipford, Divya Muthusamy, Amihai Zalzman, Ronna Hertzano, Tao Lowe, Joseph P. Stains, & Michal Zalzman. (2024). DeepFreeze 3D‐biofabrication for Bioengineering and Storage of Stem Cells in Thick and Large‐Scale Human Tissue Analogs. Advanced Science, 11(11). https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1002/advs.202306683

 

Losing Sleep over Worsening Health: The Ethics of Shift Work

     Shift work is a fundamental part of many industries, such as healthcare, law enforcement, shipping, and transportation. Shift work is best described as working outside of normal daytime hours and rotating between irregular schedules. Because of this erratic nature, sleep deprivation has been observed as a consequence of shift work. Although previous studies have identified the sleep-related problems of this workstyle, the diverse health issues have been severely underrepresented. As such, it is crucial to understand how decreased sleep quality and quantity alter our physiology and increase our risk of developing long-term diseases. 

    It has been proposed that extended shifts lead to elevated levels of cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. Due to this consistently stressed state, these hormones play a role in increasing blood pressure, which gradually damages the blood vessels and increases the chances of developing serious cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, the secretion of melatonin, a hormone involved in sleep regulation, is reduced due to extended light exposure at work. As a result, our sleep patterns and circadian rhythm are disrupted, which leads to metabolic difficulties and impaired cognitive function. These consequences are more immediately observed since workers have difficulty concentrating and are more prone to making errors. In the long run, these cumulative disturbances in our physiology increase our chances of developing chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and kidney failure.  

    Ethical issues arise because, despite these concerning health problems, we need these people to continue working through the night to maintain the luxuries and necessities that so many of us depend on. Without people tirelessly working in shipping and transportation, many of our goods would take much longer to arrive at our doorsteps, stores, and industries. Additionally, emergencies can happen at any time, so we need 24-hour clinics and hotlines. However, is it worth the risk of jeopardizing people’s health and forcing them to continue working with the chance of them making more mistakes, especially if those jobs hold a lot of responsibility? Even though many companies compensate these jobs with higher wages or overtime, I argue that this solution only fuels more burnout, which further deteriorates these people’s health. Rather, we ought to open more positions to alleviate the workload and decrease the shift lengths. Whether that requires decreasing some barriers to entry or increasing funding, these are necessary steps if we are to continue living with these conveniences. 

Lunde, L. K., Skare, Ø., Mamen, A., Sirnes, P. A., Aass, H. C. D., Øvstebø, R., Goffeng, E., Matre, D., Nielsen, P., Heglum, H. S. A., Hammer, S. E., & Skogstad, M. (2020). Cardiovascular Health Effects of Shift Work with Long Working Hours and Night Shifts: Study Protocol for a Three-Year Prospective Follow-Up Study on Industrial Workers. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(2), 589. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020589 

Zhang, H., Wang, J., Zhang, S., Tong, S., Hu, J., Che, Y., Zhuo, L., Wang, P., Geng, R., Zhou, Y., Wang, P., Zhan, S., & Li, B. (2023). Relationship between night shift and sleep problems, risk of metabolic abnormalities of nurses: a 2 years follow-up retrospective analysis in the National Nurse Health Study (NNHS). International archives of occupational and environmental health, 96(10), 1361–1371. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-023-02014-2 

Eat better!

     There is nothing better than an 8 count chicken nugget meal with waffle fries dipped in ranch and buffalo accompanied by a cold Dr. Pepper after a physiology lecture. These processed foods have become a staple in many people’s diets. It’s delicious and convenient as these processed foods are everywhere and easily accessible. They can save time but their long term impact on your health should raise serious concerns, especially when it comes to the countries life expectancy. 

    Processed foods are any food items that alters the natural state for preservation and convenience. They are high in sugar and low in fiber which causes your body to absorb sugars quickly Even those pre-washed salad greens fall into the minimally processed foods category. What we put into our mouth is fundamental for our health. Processed foods have shown an increase in chronic diseases like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes, all which reduce quality of life and impact one life expectancy. It is almost impossible to avoid all processed foods but focusing on whole minimally processed options can make a big difference. 

    Processed foods are very convenient in our fast paced life but they can impact health and life expectancy in individuals. Small changes in your life to healthier can improve your overall well being. Your health is worth the effort!

References 

Wang, L., Pan, X.-F., Munro, H. M., Shrubsole, M. J., & Yu, D. (2023). Consumption of ultra-processed foods and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the Southern Community Cohort Study. Clinical Nutrition, 42(10), 1866–1874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2023.08.012 

Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Levy, R. B., Moubarac, J.-C., Louzada, M. L., Rauber, F., Khandpur, N., Cediel, G., Neri, D., Martinez-Steele, E., Baraldi, L. G., & Jaime, P. C. (2019). Ultra-processed foods: What they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutrition, 22(5), 936–941. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980018003762 

BOTOX for migraines

     If you suffer from chronic migraines you know how debilitating they can be.   Migraines impact about 1 to 2% of the global population (Turkel et al., 2023). Migraines are painful attacks of throbbing headaches that can be accompanied by nasa, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. These migraines are strong enough to change a persons functional and emotional state (Lanteri-Minet et al., 2022).  A chronic migraine is defined as having 15 or more headache days per months. The attacks can interfere with activities of daily living and bring down ones quality of life (Turkel et al., 2023).  I wouldn’t risk such pain on my worst enemy, and for those who have tried countless treatments with little relied, Botox might be the solution for you. 

    OnabotulinumtoxinA (BOTOX) is an intramuscular injection with acetylcholine inhibitor and neuromuscular agents. Since its approval for migraines in 2010 42,000 papers have came out testing its effectiveness (Lanteri-Minet et al., 2022). Since the 1990 Botox was used to treat facial lines (wrinkles) as to which they saw an alleviation of headache symptoms as well (Turkel et al., 2023). The injection are around your head and neck in nerves with and typically these sessions happen every 12 weeks. 

    For chronic migraine sufferers, Botox can offer the relief needed in life. It improves quality of life by reducing the frequency and intensity of migraines. On top of improving everyday life it also makes you look young and can boot your self confidence. 

References 

Lanteri-Minet, M., Ducros, A., Francois, C., Olewinska, E., Nikodem, M., & Dupont-Benjamin, L. (2022). Effectiveness of onabotulinumtoxina (botox®) for the preventive treatment of chronic migraine: A meta-analysis on 10 years of real-world data. Cephalalgia, 42(14), 1543–1564. https://doi.org/10.1177/03331024221123058 

Turkel, C. C., Aurora, S., Diener, H.-C., Dodick, D. W., Lipton, R. B., Silberstein, S. D., & Brin, M. F. (2023). Treatment of chronic migraine with Botox (onabotulinumtoxina): Development, insights, and impact. Medicine, 102(S1). https://doi.org/10.1097/md.0000000000032600 

Sickle cell anemia stem cell treatments should be increased

 Sickle cell disease results in red blood cells breaking apart and blocking blood flow, which triggers inflammation and immune responses. The disease is caused by mutations in the HBB gene, which encodes hemoglobin subunit β, this leads to the red blood cells adopting an abnormal sickle-like shape under certain circumstances; with this shape, they are unable to deform as they pass through capillaries, causing blockages.

Bone marrow and stem cell transplantation is the only established curative treatment for sickle cell anemia. It replaces the faulty bone marrow producing sickle cells with healthy bone marrow from a donor. 

This is done with a procedure that uses Healthy stem cells from the donor are infused into the patient’s bloodstream through an IV, similar to a blood transfusion. The new stem cells migrate to the bone marrow and start producing normal red blood cells. (Rees & Williams, 2010).

Only 14% of patients find a perfect match. this should be increased in order to allow for more people to be cured of their disease and to also allow for suffering to end. one way to do this is to collect umbilical cord tissue due to how rich in nutrients they are. Public cord blood banks offer an alternative source of stem cells (Wilmot 2024). Umbilical cord blood, collected at birth, is highly versatile and can be used in cases where fully matched donors are unavailable which can be beneficial for people with this disease because they don't require a perfect HLA match. 

Although stem cell research is controversial, I believe it should be furthered because it holds the potential to revolutionize medicine by offering solutions to numerous unmet medical needs and advancing scientific understanding of human development and disease. Instead of finding perfect matches we should be using the stem cells research we have to try and create these perfect matches to limit the hardships of finding perfect donors. 

Rees, D. C., Williams, T. N., & Gladwin, M. T. (2010). Sickle-cell disease. Lancet (London, England), 376(9757), 2018–2031. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61029-X

Wilmot Cancer Institute. (n.d.). Blood and marrow transplantation program. University of Rochester Medical Center. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/cancer-institute/services/blood-marrow-transplant/transplants.aspx

WebMD Editorial Contributors. (2023, July 5). What are the symptoms of sickle cell disease? Medically reviewed by Carmelita Swiner, MD. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com

When Gender Stigmas Limit Scientific Progress

When Gender Stigmas Limit Scientific Progress: Unlocking the Potential of Menstrual Blood-Derived Stem Cells

       Across the globe, there is an urgent demand for safe, cost-effective treatments to address the growing prevalence of health conditions. An established treatment method for these increasingly prevalent diseases is the use of stem cells. Stem cells offer a lot of promise to individuals needing tissue regeneration and repair (Biehl, 2009). Stem cells are self-renewable and can differentiate into many different cells, depending on their classification (Biehl, 2009). Pluripotent cells can differentiate into all cell types in the body, except for extra-embryonic tissues (Zakrzewski, 2019). Multipotent stem cells have a much more restricted differentiation ability in comparison to pluripotent cells (Zakrzewski, 2019). Oligopotent and unipotent stem cells are the last two classifications and have a much more narrow differentiation ability than multipotent and pluripotent (Zakrzewski, 2019).
    Unfortunately, the extraction of these stem cells for their usefulness is quite invasive, painful, and expensive. Additionally, a great source of pluripotent stem cells comes from embryos in the blastocyst phase. But, as you can imagine, many individuals have issues with the destruction and usage of a ball of rapidly dividing cells inside a female (highly controversial). Fortunately, scientists have discovered an unexpected multipotent adult stem cell reservoir in menstrual blood, extracted from the endometrium (menstrual blood-derived stem cells/MenSCs).
    The extraction of these menstrual cells would be relatively pain-free, easy to extract, avoid ethical issues, and is an abundant source as it occurs naturally in women on a monthly basis. Furthermore, researchers have found that these multipotent stem cells can revert back to pluripotency via doxycycline-inducible lentiviral transduction (Li, 2012). These stem cells could be collected monthly, giving the public greater access to a life-saving procedure and would significantly speed up stem cell research (Manley, 2018). This is the most convenient way to obtain stem cells to date.
    The use of MenSCs has been implemented in animal research and has shown the successful neural regeneration and repairment of several types of damaged animal cells (Manica, 2022). These studies show that MenSC’s can differentiate into cardiomyocytes, respiratory epithelial, neurocytic, myocytic, endothelial, pancreatic, hepatic, adipocytic, and osteogenic cells (Borlongan, 2010). This is the beginning of the much-needed silencing of time-old misconceptions and stigmas that menstrual blood is “bad” and something that needs to be discarded.
    There are a few concerns regarding this newly found research, including the increasing commercialization of healthcare, commodification of human bodies, and the exploitation of women in healthcare (Fannin, 2013). It is also no surprise that menstrual blood is undervalued and stigmatized. A study done on spreading information about MenSC’s on social media revealed that men engaged negatively with the content, whereas women and scientists responded with positivity (Fannin, 2013). Most negative comments left by men were about the sterility of using menstrual blood (blood transfusions have been safe since 1914) shining a light on the stigma surrounding periods (Fannin, 2013).
    It might be helpful for those who are scared of the sterilization process to be aware of the steps. The blood would be collected via sterile containers that contain antibiotics and then kept cold (Allickson, 2011). After 24 hours the blood would be processed with a cocktail of antibiotics including vancomycin, cefotaxime sodium, amikacin, gentamyiin, and amphotericin b. This is then followed by a series of cryopreservations and freezes (Allickson, 2011). Afterward, it is tested for a series of diseases, this is how serious the sterilization process is (Allickson, 2011).
    Despite the lengths scientists are going to, different places in the world avoid talking about the source of these stem cells due to disgust and shame. In some cases these stem cells have been given alternative names, diminishing their association with women and erasing the contributors who are solely female (Manica, 2018). Some researchers in these labs have elicited disgust when working with menstrual blood, resulting in most researchers being women (Manica, 2018). Additionally, the label “women’s cells” are perceived as being only of use to females. This gendered framing plays a part in their lack of universal recognition (Manica, 2018). Many MenSC researchers face sexist jokes, mockery, and are often times dismissed. This has forced MenSC researchers to prove themselves, providing exceptional results to gain recognition, a pressure that is not put on other stem cell research (Manica, 2018). In reality, scientists have found something that can treat thousands of diseases and health problems yet institutional sexism prevents its rightful integration.

Literature Cited

Allickson, J. G., Sanchez, A., Yefimenko, N., Borlongan, C. V., & Sanberg, P. R. (2011). Recent

studies assessing the proliferative capability of a novel adult stem cell identified in menstrual blood.

The open stem cell journal, 3(2011), 4.

Biehl, J. K., & Russell, B. (2009). Introduction to stem cell therapy. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 24(2), 98-103.

Borlongan, C. V., Kaneko, Y., Maki, M., Yu, S. J., Ali, M., Allickson, J. G., ... & Sanberg, P. R. (2010). Menstrual blood cells display stem cell–like phenotypic markers and exert neuroprotection following transplantation in experimental stroke. Stem cells and development, 19(4), 439-452.

Fannin, M. (2013). The hoarding economy of Endometrial Stem Cell Storage. Body & Society, 19(4), 32–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357034x13479147 

Lin, J., Xiang, D., Zhang, J., Allickson, J., & Xiang, C. (2011a). Plasticity of human menstrual blood stem cells derived from the endometrium. Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE B, 12(5), 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.b1100015 

Li, Y., Li, X., Zhao, H., Feng, R., Zhang, X., Tai, D., ... & Tan, J. (2013). Efficient induction of pluripotent stem cells from menstrual blood. Stem cells and development, 22(7), 1147-1158.

Manica, D. T., Asensi, K. D., Mazzarelli, G., Tura, B., Barata, G., & Goldenberg, R. C. (2022a). Gender bias and menstrual blood in stem cell research: A review of pubmed articles (2008–2020). Frontiers in Genetics, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2022.957164 

Manica, D. T., Goldenberg, R. C. D. S., and Asensi, K. D. (2018). CeSaM: As células do sangue menstrual: Gênero, tecnociência e terapia celular. irei. 20, 93–113. doi:10.12957/irei.2018.35862

Manley, H. L. (2018). The potential for menstrually-derived stem cell banking in the UK. Journal of Undergraduate Research at NTU, 1(1), 1-18. 

Zakrzewski, W., Dobrzyński, M., Szymonowicz, M., & Rybak, Z. (2019). Stem cells: past, present, and future. Stem cell research & therapy, 10(1), 1-22.